Wii Boogie - U Can't Stop This.

I recently became indoctrinated into the Mother-Daughter Sorority of Kappa Kappa Wii, which is another full entry sitting in my drafts. I'll post that this weekend. Anyway, as a proud (and addicted) Wii Mom, when The Parent Bloggers Network offered me the chance to play Wii Boogie with my family before it was released in stores, I was all over it.

You see, I'd had the chance to play with it a little bit at my Wii party, but having my own copy? In my own living room? Where I could challenge my poor husband to a dance and karaoke-off, using the included microphone? Aw yeah.

Hard-core gamers, scoff all you want. Wii Boogie is hilarious to play, and my entire family gets into it. And with its up on your feet, move-it-or-lose-it game play, Boogie has unexpectedly effective cardio built in.

I've got some things I love about it, and some things I would like to see changed: Let's start with the not-so-good:

The characters are really cute, but the only female character is, while adorable, a tiny-waisted club-looking girl. That's fine for me (heh) but my younger girls, at four and eight years old, would rather play with the little cat character. It would have been nice to have the option for them to cute-up some of the male characters, and not be locked into being a hottie.

The song selections - why oh why was it necessary to include heavily edited versions of songs like Milkshake? With a whole wide world of great songs, why take this paean to the mystical power of Kelis' T&A and edit it to the point of sheer nonsense? I mean, if they wanted nonsense, they could have used Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl. And yet, including Slave4U, that Pussycat Dolls song, with little or no editing... let's just say that it boggles the mind what is considered truly objectionable, and what is still okay.

I will say that having Milkshake on the program made for an entertaining discussion with my very literal four-year-old, who imagines that the milkshake in question must be chocolate, and be available at a lemonade-type stand in "that lady's" yard, and she probably charges a quarter for it because it is so delicious. Yes. That is exactly what is going on.

Now for the funny stuff: we've been able to determine which of my children has natural rhythm, and we've discovered that karaoke to songs we thought we knew is rather humbling. We're pretty good on the choruses, but you get us into the rest of the lyrics, and we're hopeless.

That doesn't stop us in the least, for what its worth. The husband and I have gone head to head nightly (and I kick his sorry butt.) I've got to say Karma Chameleon is still pretty damn catchy after all these years. And it cracks me up to see the kids trying to sing the songs and then giving up, substituting their own words for the provided lyrics. Just like their mama.

I also love the fact that we can play the game together, and it requires an enthusiastic effort with the Wii remotes. Like the other games for the Wii console, Boogie gets you up off the couch and happily flailing to the beat. For a family that spends plenty of time stationary, whether at school or at work, having a fun dance break gets the blood flowing and everyone laughing.

We haven't tapped into the game's story mode yet - we're having too much fun just gettin' down with our bad selves. Wii Boogie is rated for ages 10 and up, but as you can tell, even my four-year-old can have fun making her character jump, spin and back-flip around the screen. We love it.

Comments

I bought Wii Boogie for our 9 year old, in part based on your review. ;-)

We haven't played it yet, just opened the box and read the little booklet. But Liz's first thought was that she wanted to be the cat thing 'cause that girl is totally NOT her. (even though Liz is a tiny thing, she's not a hottie and doesn't want to be.) Totally agree that they need one more character or some better customization of the ones they have.

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Because I can't say no when people offer me the chance to check out new books, music and other stuff. Most of the items reviewed here are freebies, some are paid reviews that will nevertheless reflect my true opinions, and there will be occasional reviews of products that I've purchased on my own.